Michael I of Romania

Michael I of Romania (25 October 1921-) was the king of Romania from 1927 to 1930, preceding Carol II of Romania, and from 1940 to 1947. Michael I was placed in power after a coup against King Carol and was subject to the regency of the fascist dictator Ion Antonescu until 1944. Romania fought for the Axis Powers during World War II from 1941 to 1944, when Michael was restored to power and directed Romania to join the Soviet Union and Bulgaria as Allies. He was forced to abdicate after the war in 1947 by the Communist Party of Romania, who became the new rulers.

Biography
Michael I of Romania was born on 25 October 1921 in Sinaia in the Kingdom of Romania to King Carol II of Romania and his wife Elena of Greece, and was of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. Michael's father was of Scottish, Russian, German, and Portuguese descent, while his mother was Bavarian, Russian, and Prussian. He was made king at the age of 6 when his father temporarily renounced his throne to elope with his mistress Elena Lupescu and the reigning King Ferdinand II of Romania died, but in 1930 Gheorghe Buzdugan's regency came to an end when the parliament invited Carol II to come back to rule Romania again. In 1939 he became a member of the senate, as the constitution allowed for the Crown Prince to become a senator upon becoming 18. In September 1940 Ion Antonescu ousted King Carol II in a Fascist coup, and Antonescu declared Michael the king of Romania under him. The constitution was dissolved and Michael was only a titular monarch; Antonescu was the leader of Romania in all forms except for title.

Michael only met Adolf Hitler for lunch twice, in 1937 in Bavaria with his father once and another time in 1941 in Berlin with his mother. In 1941, he met with Benito Mussolini of Fascist Italy on one occasion in Italy. Michael let Antonescu rule Romania as a member of the Axis Powers alongside Hitler's Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Salo Republic, Ivan Ivanov Bagryanov's Fascist Bulgaria, Miklos Horthy's Fascist Hungary, and Ante Pavelic's Independent State of Croatia. However, on 23 August 1944 Michael sent the palace guard to arrest Antonescu as communists, pro-Allies, and army officers rose in revolt against the fascists. Michael became the full ruler of Romania and joined the Soviet Union as a member of the Allied Powers, and Romania helped in the liberation of the Balkans from German rule.

In 1947, after the war's end, Michael was forced to step down from power by the Communist Party of Romania, who became the new rulers of the country with help from the Soviet Union. Michael renounced his title as a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen prince in 2013, and in July 2013 he had a 45% approval rate from Romanians and only a 6.5% disapproval rate.